Process of treating fibers



Oct. 14,1958 c. HARMON 2,855,633 PROCESS OF TREATING FIBERS Filed June 13. 1955 :s Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VEN TOR.

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ATTORNfKS qawyaa v Oct. 14, 1958 C, HARMON PROCESS OF TREATING FIBERS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed June 13, 1955 v mve ToR' (371F215 fiAMd/V A TTORNEY United States Patent PROCESS OF TREATING FIBERS Carlyle Harmon, Longmeadow, Mass, assignor to Chicopee Manufacturing Corporation, Chicopce Falls, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application June 13, 1955, Serial No. 514,847

17 Claims. (Cl. 19-66) This invention relates to the treatment or conditioning of unspun textile fibers, to change their physical characteristics especially their surface properties.

The invention is particularly useful for treating unspun cotton fibers and it Will be explained, for example, as applied to cotton.

In the past, unspun fibers have often been treated with various substances to control to some degree their processing properties or to change the properties of the resultant fiber. With cotton this treatment has been generally limited to spraying unspun cotton fibers with oil, or with oil emulsions, to lubricate them and to reduce dust and fly. In many of the fiber treating processes it is an important requirement to place on the surface of the individual fibers some quantity of the treating material. In many instances, it is important that the treating material be substantially uniformly distributed, and be present only in relatively minute quantities. Frequently, the presence on a fiber, or in a group of fibers, of relatively large masses of the treating material causes various undesirable results. It may cause clumping or adhesion of fibers where such a condition is not desired; it may clog, gum or overload the processing machinery such as cards.

Many attempts have been made to deposit various substances in small quantities uniformly over the surface of individual fibers, or through quantities of fibers, but each of these attempts has, at best, resulted in a distribution which varies too widely for many purposes and uses, has deposited undesirably large masses of material, or both. In particular, cotton fibers have been sprayed with liquid droplets that are formed in a gas atomizing nozzle or in a pressure spray nozzle and then conveyed to the fibers in an air stream. This may produce properties which are satisfactory for some purposes but in many instances it does not produce the particular properties which are desired. Sprays are ordinarily composed of relatively large droplets of liquid, or at least contain a high proportion by volume of large droplets. Such large droplets cannot be conveyed by the air stream to the fibers in the interior of a mass, but are deposited on the surface fibers, or on fibers very close to the surface due to impact and inertia forces, which remove them from the gas stream onto the fiber surface, or due to gravity, which causes them to fall out of the air stream onto the fiber surface. The fibers below the surface are starved and the distribution is not uniform. Immersion of fibers .in a liquid bath also has been used to deposit material on the individual fibers, but particularly with raw cotton, the fibers often become badly matted and tangled so that such an application is frequently unsatisfactory and impractical. Thus, there is a great demand for fibers on which material is deposited with a uniformity .or a minuteness of quantity which cannot be achieved by any method heretofore known.

The discovery which is the basis of the present invention is that where the maximum size of the particles of the applied material is very small the material can easily be applied to fibers very uniformly and in very small quantities. This renders it possible, very cheaply, to give to fibers properties not hitherto available and to improve or control the degree of other properties which are known or have been sought.

The present invention has for its object the provision of a novel and improved process for the modification of certain physical properties of unspun fibers, such as the interfiber friction, either to increase or decrease the interfiber friction, so as to improve the spinability of the fibers or to improve the drawing or carding of the fibers or to improve the weaving of yarns made from such fibers. The invention has for a further object the provision of a novel and improved process for the substantially uniform deposition of relatively small amounts of a treating agent upon unspun fibers, for instance, to provide for the dry processing of the fibers with various treating chemicals and compositions, such as resinous or resin-forming materials, coloring agents such as are used in nonwoven fiber technology, water-repellent agents, or fiber binding agents for the production of insulating material. Still another object of the invention is the provision of a process which permits the production of fabrics from woven yarns of spun fibers at increased speeds of production in the various stages of operation compared with similar operations carried out with untreated fibers, or at substantially the same speed with shorter and cheaper fibers than with untreated longer and more expensive fibers, thus reducing the cost of producing such fabrics. The present invention provides an improved process useful in the production of woven and knitted fabrics which reduces the number of ends-down in spinning and also reduces the yarn breaks in the knitting or weaving operation.

In practicing the invention, the solid or liquid material which is to be applied to the fibers is subdivided into particles of very small size forming a dispersion of these particles in a gas acting as a carrier, and the particle size is carefully controlled within a relatively narrow range of particle size, and the concentration of the particles is also carefully controlled so as to avoid agglomeration or growth of the particle size. This dispersion of particles in the carrier gas is moved into contact with the fibers, or through the fiber mass to be treated so as to deposit a substantial portion of the particles on the fibers in a substantially uniform manner.

If many of the particles, either liquid or solid, suspended in an air stream were large, that is having diameters of the order of 50 microns or more, two undesirable results would happen when attempting to apply these particles to fibers. First, such particles as reach the fibers would tend to be deposited immediately by impact, inertia, or gravity forces. Thus, when an attempt is made to spray a porous mass of fibers, such as picker lap, most of the particles are deposited on the surface of the lap which faces the air current and substantially no particles reach the downstream side of the lap or the downstream surfaces of the fibers. In treating large clumps or masses of fibers it is important to transport the particles in the air stream into the very thick mass of loose fibers. This thickness may be in the order of several inches or more, depending upon the looseness or degree of separation of fibers in the mass. Large particles, because they are being deposited on or near the upstream impact surface of the fibrous mass, therefore cannot be used to penetrate and treat thick masses of fibers. Second, certain fibers or groups of fibers have a concentration of material added to them far above that desired or what they can absorb or distribute. The concentrated masses of material cause trouble in further processing. This is particularly true when the particles are of such a substance which does not flow over the fibers to form a film.

Other difficulties and disadvantages are encountered when the dispersion includes a large proportion by weight of extremely fine particles, such as particles having a diameter'of less-than0.3'micronwhich exhibit Brownian movement and excessiveditfusion' and are not efficiently capturedby thefibers to be treated. Substantial amounts by weight ofparticleslessthan 0.3 micron in diameter result in unncessarily large apparatus for carrying out the treatment, in wastage of the treating material, and in excessive'power consumption for the recirculation of the treating dispersion.

However, adispersion consisting of very small particles having a mass'mean diameter of from 0.3 to 10.0 microns and preferably from 0.5 to'3.0 microns will avoid all of the disadvantages set forth above. Dispersions of particles havingtheir mass mean diameter within the limits set forth behave entirely differently and may be used muchmore efiiciently and satisfactorily than dispersions having mass mean diameters either larger or smaller than the rangesset forth, and are especially advantageous when the particle size'is limited within the narrow range of from 0.5 to 3.0 microns. The approach to uniformity in distribution and the degreeof penetration of the particles is most marked and the improvement in their effect is most marked when the particle size is such that the predominant portion and substantially all of the mass of the substance is contained in particles whose size is not greater than and'preferably not greater than 3 microns, and is not less'than 0.3 and preferably not less than 0.5 micron, although these advantageous results are for the most part obtained when'the mass mean diameter lies within these ranges.

The deposition of these very small particles from a gas does not follow the laws of dispersion governing filtration of solids out of liquids into interstices which depend on the relative sizes of the particles and the interstices in the filter. Rather, the deposition of these very small par ticles on fibers from a gas dispersion depends upon collision or apparent collision between the particles and the fibers. The major factors involved in producing these collisions are: (1) impact, due to the particle being carried in a gas streamline so that the particle comes in contact with the fiber surface, the particle then being removed from the gas by laws of attraction; (2) inertia effect, due to a particleleaving a gas stream-line as the latter changes direction; (3) the settling, or gravity effect due to the particles falling downward and out of the stream-line as it passes through a fiber mass and around individual fibers; and (4) the small oscillating movement or Brownian effeet, which is of some importance with extremely small particles, usually less than 0.3 micron in diameter. The importanceof each of these effects varies, depending upon the particle size and velocity of the gas stream. When a collision has apparently occurred, the individual particle adheres to the fiber due to mutual attraction. It is believed that very few particles, if any, rebound or separate from the fibers after they collide or make contact with an individual fiber. This is particularly true where the particles are liquid and of a character which spreads along the fiber surface. The diameter and shape of the fiber, the

'size and density of the particle in the dispersion, the

relative velocity of the dispersion with reference to the fiber, the concentration of the dispersion, the relative electrical potential between the particles in the dispersion and the fibers, and the temperature decrease between the particles and the fibers are important factors which controlthe rate or amount of deposition. These factors can be varied within wide limits to produce the effect sought at the desired rate with the desired material.

' In general, the process of the present invention may be applied to a wide variety of fibers of vegetable, animal,

mineral, synthetic or artificial origin, and including such ester fibers, acrylic fibers, glass fibers, mineral wool, as-

bestos and other fibers which are to be spun or otherwise made into yarn or thread, or are to be made into nonwoven fabrics or felted material.

Likewise, a wide variety of materials may be used for the preparation of the controlled dispersion to be applied to the porous mass of fibers and among the many types of materials which may be used are various oils, waxes, resins, fats, surface active agents, high boiling esters, colloidal silica, oil-water emulsions, synthetic resin-forming ingredients, anti-static surface active agents, dyes, or other high-boiling or solid materials, the choice of the material depending upon the type of treatment desired and the properties which are required to be produced in the treated fibers.

The process is adapted for use in producing desirable, relatively low concentrations of treating material upon the fibers, and in carrying out the process the final concentration of thetreating material varies from 0.05% to 2.00% in its widest application, more usually from 0.1% to 1.0% and mostpreferably from about 0.15% to 0.30% based upon the Weight of the treated fibers.

While the concentrations set forth represent the preferred and optimum conditions for carrying out the process ofthe present invention from thepoint of view of the physical factors involved, it may often be necessary to depart from these preferredand optimum conditions in order to achieve certain results such asthe proper preparation of fiber masses with relatively high concentrations of treating agents such as might be required for the felting of matted fibers, for the manufacture of impervious sheets, or the like.

To produce uniformity of concentration throughout the mass of fibers treated, the dispersion of the treating material in the diluent gas is relatively low and preferably the number of fine particles of the treating material comprise less than 10 cc. in the total volume of the dispersion. Where a particle concentration of l0 /cc. is exceeded, difficulty is often experienced by coagulation of the particles of the treating material.

The control of the rate of flow of the dispersion of the treating material in the diluent gas is of considerable importance and the pressure drop across the mass of fibers to be treated is maintained so as to produce a flow of at least 20 feet per minute, preferably being maintained at least 35 feet per minute. In general, the velocity of the flow of dilute dispersion does not exceed the rate at which the gas may be passed through the fiber mass without disruption of the mass. Slower rates of flow would require a much higher concentration of the particles of treating material in the gaseous dispersion for economic operation, and such higher concentrations would result in undesirable agglomeration of the particles, which, in turn, would result in non-uniformity of deposition of the particles on the fibers. Higher rates of fiow often interfere with the proper handling of the fiber mass, but high rates of fioware not as disadvantageous as rates of flow which are too low.

Although the process of the present invention may be carried out by a wide variety of apparatus, the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings is highly efiicient and has proved to be very satisfactory for the treatment of a moving mass or lap of loosely arranged fibers.

Of the drawings:

Figure 1 is a schematic view of a typical and illustrative form of apparatus for carrying out the process of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a similar view on an enlarged scale which shows additional details of the apparatus; and

Figure 3 is a greatly enlarged view of cotton fibers which have been treated in accordance with the process of the present invention.

As shown in Figure 1 of the drawings, the dispersion of treating. material with its small particles suspended in a diluent gas, suchasnitrogen or air is supplied through inlet pipe I-andmixed with air or other diluent gas supp ied through inlet 2 to the mixing box 3. The mixing box is provided at its other end with an outlet pipe 4 through which the mixture of dispersion and diluent gas are drawn from one end of the box to the other and past the internal baflles 5 within the box, the baffles being of a suflicient number and of such an arrangement that they insure removal of almost all of the oversize particles of the treating material, reducing the treating material dispersion to one having a mass mean diameter not more than 10, and preferably not more than 3 microns. The number and relative proportion of the particles less than 0.5 and preferably less than 0.75 micron is controlled during the generation of the dispersion. At the lower portion of the bottom of the mixing box 3, it is preferably formed with a sloping bottom wall leading to a drain plug 6 so that the accumulation of treating material resulting from the collection of the oversize particles on the bafiie plates 5 may be collected and drained away, being returned to the generator, if desired.

The outlet pipe or delivery duct 4 is connected to a hood 8 which overlies the moving, porous mass of fibers to be treated, which in the present illustrative showing comprises a lap of cotton 9 of more or less conventional width :and thickness. Hood 8 extends at least the full width of the lap of web of loosely mattedfibers to be treated and may be of any convenient direction along the length of travel of the lap, such as several inches. The lower portion of the hood 8 merges into a portion 10 having substantially vertical walls which are provided with an internal gutter 11 leading to a drain 12, so that any of the dispersed treating material which collects on the side walls of the hood 8 drains into the gutter and is removed, thereby avoiding or minimizing the possibility that large drops of the treating material will fall on the'lap 9 and destroy the uniformity of application of the treating substance to the lap.

The lap of fibers 9 is supported on a foraminated member 14 which is supported on the upper portion of the suction housing 16, which is connected by the suction duct 18 to the precipitation chamber 20 and to the suction fan 22 which discharges into the exhaust duct 23.

Figure 2 of the drawing illustrates a portion of the same apparatus as is shown in Figure l, but many of the parts :are shown in more detail.

, Means are provided for feeding the lap 9 forward across the foraminated plate 14 which extends from one side edge to the other of the lap 9, and these feeding means comprise a pair of fluted feed roll-s 24 parallel to each other and spaced, one at either side of the hood 8 and substantially alined with the lower edges of the vertical portions 10 of the hood 8. Excessive loss of the dispersion is prevented by means of flexible side flaps 26 and end flaps 27 attached to the lower edges of the hood portions 10 and extending into contact with the surface of the fluted rolls 24. The fluted rolls 24 are provided with driving pulleys 28 which are belted to the drive motor 30 so they are driven at the desired speed. Usually this drive is not continuous, but intermittent, as will be described below.

The precipitation chamber 20 preferably comprises an electrostatic precipitator, of conventional construction, which removes substantially all of the small particles of treating material from the diluent gas in which they are dispersed and conveyed, so that the gas drawn into the suction fan 22 is substantially free of any included particles. On its bottom wall, the precipitation chamber 20' is provided with a drain 32 from which the collected treating material may be drained oil? and, if desired, reused.

Control means are provided for regulating the rate of flow of the dispersion through the ducts 4 and 18, and. for this purpose the suction duct 18 is provided with a bleed opening 34 by which the pressure drop across the lap 9 may be regulated, and the area of the bleed opening may be changed, at'will by varying the position of the closure collar 36 so as to close more or less of the opening 34. 7

As illustrated, the lap or mass of loosely packed fibers 9 is received from a conventional cotton picker and is to be fed forward for further conventional treatment as is usual in the preparation of cotton fibers for spinning. Such feeding is not continuous, but is intermittent, depending upon the operation of subsequent machines and their demands for the lap. Means are therefore provided for discontinuing and restarting the flow of the diluted dispersion across the lap so as to maintain the uniformity of the treatment of the fibers with the dispersion of treating material.

For this purpose, means are provided for by-passing the flow of dispersion from the delivery duct 4 to the precipitator 20 immediately adjacent the suction fan 22, and for rendering the by-pass duct 40 operating or alternatively directing the flow of diluted dispersion across and through the lap or other mass 9 of fibers to be treated.

As illustrated, the by-pass duct is provided with two butterfly valves 42 and 44. Valve 42 is manually actuated by means of the external handle 46 and may be adjusted so that its resistance to the flow of the dilute dispersion in the ducts is equal to the resistance offered by the lap in the alternative flow path of the dispersion. Butterfly valve 44 is adapted to be opened by solenoid 48 and is closed by means of the gravity-actuated counterweight 50, being in the closed position when the lap 9 is moved forward by rotation of the fluted feed rolls 24.

Delivery duct 4 is provided with a butterfly valve 52 which is moved to open position 'by energization of the actuating solenoid 54 and is returned to closed position by means of the counterweight 56. Suction duct 18 is similarly provided with a butterfly valve 58 opened by solenoid 60 and closed by the gravity counterweight 62.

With the by-pass valve 44 closed, the flow of the diluted dispersion is across the lap 9, while with valve 44 open, valves 52 and 58 are to be simultaneously closed, so that the flow of the diluted dispersion is entirely through the by-pass, restricted only by the control valve 42, thereby avoiding excessive application of the dispersion to the fibers when the lap 9 has been stopped in its feed movement.

Solenoids 54 and 60 are simultaneously actuated to open the valves 52 and 58 whenever motor 30 is energized from the supply means 64 through switch 66 in the position shown. When the feed rolls 24 are to be stopped, the switch 66 is moved to its other position so as to discontinue supply of electric power to the motor 30 and the solenoids 54 and 6t) to supply power to the solenoid 48, thereby resulting in the simultaneous closure of the valves 52 and 58 and opening of the valve44. Switch 66 may be manually actuated, but in practice will usually be moved between its two positions automatically and in accordance with the desired operation of the feed rolls 24.

Thus by stopping the flow of the diluted dispersion through the loose mass of fibers whenever the feed of the loose mass is interrupted, a uniform residence time of each portion of the fiber mass is achieved with respect to the web or lap of fibers 9 so that substantial uniformity of treatment of all of the fibers results.

In practice, the thickness of the web or lap of fibers 9 and the resulting porosity, the pressure drop across the mass of fibers, the resulting rate of flow of the dispersion, the concentration of the treating particles in the dilute dispersion and the size of the particles in the dispersion, especially the mass mean diameter of the particles, are all interrelated and adjusted so that about 50% of the particles of the dispersion are captured or trapped by the fibers, although as much as of the particles may be captured or trapped where extreme uniformity is not required, and as little as 20% of the particles may be captured where substantially maximum uniformity is required regardless of the efliciency of the process.

When 50% of the particles are trapped, the upper por tion of the lap 9 will have approximately twice as-much treating material deposited on it as the lowermost fiber; where 80% of the dispersed particles are trapped, the upper layer will have about five times as much treating material deposited on it as the lowermost layer; while, with only a 20% absorption or trapping of dispersed particles, the upper layer will have only about 1.25 times the amount of deposited treating material as the lowermost fibers of the lap as it passes through the treating position. Inasmuch as the lap or web of loosely packed fibers constituting the mass subjected to treatment is to be subjected to subsequent steps which will further blend the fibers and distribute the treating material throughout the mass, the process of the present invention may be carried out with as much as 80% trapping or capturing of the dispersed particles by the porous moving mass of fibers.

For illustration, we may apply our invention to the treatment of American Upland cotton fibers.

Figure 3 of. the accompanying drawings is a view magnified 500 times of parts of three such fibers treated by the method of the invention.

Cotton fibers are flattened, twisted, irregular tubes 10 as shown in the drawing. This irregularity creates many diificulties in the attempts to apply material uniformly. The thickness of the cotton fiber is defined herein as the sum of the major axis and the minor axis divided by two. Cotton fibers may vary from about 10 to about 30 microns in thickness. The thickness of the predominant number of fibers in a-representative batch of American Upland cotton is about microns.

Example I To control the surface friction between the cotton fibers stearic acid was applied as follows: Stearic acid was vaporized in the air stream at 125 C. A stream of air under pressure, as for example, from a tank of compressed air or an air pump was passed over the stearic acid boiler to carry away the vapors to the condensation zone, where very small particles of stearic acid having a mass mean diameter of approximately 0.8 micron were formed upon cooling.

The condensation zone employed may for example be a long section of a cylindrical tube which diameter usual- 1y exceeds six inches and which is allowed to remain. at room temperature. If there is any condensation on the walls of the condensation zone, the condensate may be collected and either recycled or discarded, according to whether there has been any change in its chemical composition. The only matter which it is important to control is that the resulting dispersion is of the correct particle size. Any particles outside the specified range of size may be removed by appropriate bafiling adapted to effect a sudden change in direction of the dispersion, whereby the momentum of the large particles causes them to be deposited upon the baffles.

If the air stream rate passing through the stearic acid boiler was increased and the stearic acid evolution rate was maintained constant, the concentration of stearic acid vapor per unit volume of air was reduced. Thus, the dispersion which resulted upon subsequent cooling would have fewer particles per unit volume.

Similarly, if the air stream velocity was maintained constant and the rate of evolution of stearic acid vapor was reduced, the subsequent concentration of the dispersion particles per unit volume of air was reduced. If it. was desired to increase the concentration of dispersion particles, then the rate of evolution of the stearic acid was increased or the rate of flow of air through the stearic acid-boiler was decreased. Obviously it would not be desirable to have, too high a concentration of dispersion particles because the particles would then tend to agglomerate and destroy the uniformity of the dispersion.

The concentration of these droplets in the air stream was, therefore, controlled to form a stable dispersion in 8 which. the particles would neither agglomerate nor grow in air stream. Thus they were of almost equal particle size and can be referred to as mono-dispersed. At least of the mass of particles in the dispersion consisted of particles of not more than 10 microns in diameter. Final temperature ofthe air-stearic acid suspension was 22 C. This dispersion was then passed through a tube containing a plug of loosely packed cotton fibers from a card web. The air speed was about 35 feet per minute, and the plug about 1. /2v inches long. The fibers had an average or predominant thickness of about 15' microns. Particles of stearic acid, 12, were deposited at substantially uniform intervals on the fibers throughout the mass as shown on the drawing, which is a copy of an actual photomicrograph of fibers treated by the process of thisv Example II in order to treat cotton fibers so as to decrease drag, dust and fiy, there was made a dispersion in a known generator (e. g. that described and illustrated in British Patent No. 617,155) of dioctyl phthalate having a fairly uniform and mass mean particle size of about 3 microns. At least 95% of the mass of particles in the suspension consisted of particles of not more than 10 microns indiameter, and was used in a medium of nitrogen gas. The smoke was then reheated to a temperature of about C. in a condition of low relative humidity. immediately after being heated, the suspension was passed through a loose mass of separated cotton fibers fed from a conventional saw-tooth opener and feed roll. The temperature of the fiber was about 20 C. and the fiber thickness averaged about 15 microns. The dioctyl phthalate was rapidly and uniformly deposited on the fibers in the general manner indicated in the drawing.

Further examples Cotton fibers were processed in to a picker lap and were then treated with a dispersion of various materials as indicated in the following table.

In each instance, the treating material was formed into a dilute gaseous dispersion having the mass mean diameter given in the table.

The dilute gaseous dispersions Were generated by the process and apparatus disclosed in the copending application of Harmon, Griswold and Smith, Serial No. 513,424 filed June 6, 1955, although dispersion generators of other forms may be used. The dispersions were passed over bafile plates to remove the larger particles of the dispersion, and were then applied to the picker lap by the apparatus described above. After treatment, the cotton fibers were carded, drawn and spun on conventional machines for that purpose. The spinnability was determined by counting the number of end breakages during spinning over a period of time with a given number of spindles. As is customary, the number of ends down per 1000 spindle hours, forms the index of spinnability of the treated or untreated fibers.

The amount of dispersed treating agent applied to the cotton. fibers was varied by controlling the concentration of the dispersion, the rate of flow of the dispersion across and through the picker lap andthe other processing conditions and is stated as the amount of treating material by weight actually'deposited onthe fibers.

For each sample, an equal quantity of cotton was passed through the picker without application of any treating dispersion and wasv then subjected to similar carding, drawing and spinning operations.

The ends down thus serve as a proper basis of comparison for the treated and untreated fibers.

the lack of evenness of the dye treatmentbecomes worse. Above approximately ten microns there would be a Particles Ends Down Example Dispersed Material Improve- Size, Mi- Amount, Conment crons Percent trol Treated by wt.

1. 3 0. 20 65 48 26 3 Polyoxyethylene sorbitan 1. 8 0. 50 47 37 21 monolaurate (20 mols). 2. 6 0. 50 39 25 36 13.0 0. 50 47 65 -38 Polyoxyethylene sorbitan 1. 4 0.20 54 45 17 monolaurate (8 mols). Sorbitan Monolaurate g g8 23 3% 2i Sorbitan monopalmitate. 1. 1 0. 14 56 46 18 Polyoxyethylene lauryl 1. 3 0. 20 60 48 2O ether (7 mols). Polyoxyethylene nonyl phe- 1. 9 0. 18 56 50 11 no] mols). Dioctylphthalate 2. 6 0. 50 56 51 9 Polyoxyethylene castor oil... 2. 6 0. 50 56 37 34 2. 6 0.50 39 32 18 1.0 0. 1 68 53 22 2.0 0. 2 65 55 3. 5 0. 12 73 57 22 1.0 0. 1 67 50 Stearie acid 1.0 0. 2 65 44 32 Many other kinds of treating material may be dispersed and applied to fibrous material to vary the characteristics thereof and exemplarily, the treating material may comprise waxes, such as carnauba wax, Japan wax, spermacetti, montan wax, Carbowax (polyethyleneglycol), oils such as olive oil, tea seed oil, coconut oil, soybean oil, castor oil, mineral oil, soluble oils, fatty acids, their esters and salts, such as stearic acid, oleic acid, ricinoleic acid, lauric acid, soaps, fungicides and a wide variety of other fiber treating materials to modify the properties of the fibers.

I Another example of the process as applied to the treatment of fibers for a purpose other than the improvement of spinning is as follows:

Example X V11 To a mineral oil was added a small amount of an oil soluble dye. This solution was then dispersed into aerosol form by passing through the generator described in Example II. The temperature controller of the aerosol generator was adjusted so as to maintain temperatures of 900, 800, 700 and 620", respectively. The particle size of the resulting dispersion was measured for each run.

The dispersion of dyed oil particles was then passed through a mass of rayon fibers, striking the top layer first and flowing out through the bottom layer. The operation was allowed to proceed long enough to obtain a noticeable dye content on the top layer of fibers.

The mat of fibers was then separated into two equal upper and lower layers. Each layer was then extracted with carbon tetrachloride, a solvent for the solution of dye in oil. Each extract was then evaluated in a photoelectric colorimeter to give an indication of the concentration of the solution, which in turn would be an indication of the amount of dye present in the fibers. The relative concentrations on the top and bottom were then compared to yield an index of the evenness of distribution of dye between the top and the bottom layer.

Results were as follows:

The data indicate that as the particle size gets larger greater decrease than which would be a highly undesirable and non-uniform treatment.

This application is a continuation-in-part of my prior application Serial No. 210,189 filed February 9, 1951, now abandoned.

The invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific steps, processes and compositions shown and described but departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the accompanying claims without departing from the principles of the invention and without sacrficing its chief advantages.

What is claimed is:

1. In a method of carding textile fibers, the steps of applying to a relatively thin, travelling web of textile fibers a diluted gaseous dispersion of separated particles of a textile treating material, said textile treating material being vaporizable at a temperature above room temperature, said dispersed particles having a mass mean diameter of from about 0.3 micron to about 10 microns, and then carding said textile fibers, said applied textile treating materials modifying the surface andvinterfiber frictional properties of said textile fibers and facilitating the carding thereof. 2. In a method of carding textile fibers, the steps of applying to the textile fibers a diluted gaseous dispersion of separated particles of a textile treating material, said textile treating material being vaporizable at a temperature above room temperature, said dispersed particles having a mass mean diameter of from about 0.5 micron to about 3 microns, and then carding said textile fibers, said applied textile treating materials modifying the surface and interfiber frictional properties of said textile fibers and facilitating the carding thereof.

3. A method as defined in claim 1 wherein the textile treating material is a polyoxyethylene derivative of an ester of a long chain fatty acid and a hexitol anhydride.

4. A method as defined in claim 1 wherein the textile treating material is a polyoxyethylene derivative of an ester of a long chain fatty acid and sorbitol anhydride.

5. A method as defined in claim 1 wherein the textile treating material is a polyoxyethylene derivative of sorbitan monolaurate.

6. A method as defined in claim 1 wherein the textile treating material is an ester of a long chain fatty acid and a hexitol anhydride.

7. A method as defined in claim 1 wherein the textile treating material is an ester of a long chain fatty acid and sorbitol anhydride.

8'. A method as defined in claim 1 wherein the textile treating material is sorbitan monolaurate.

9. A method as defined in claim 1 wherein the textile treating material is sorbitan monopalmitate.

10. In a method of forming spun textile yarns from textile fibers, the steps of applying to a relatively thin, travelling Web of textile fibers a diluted gaseous dispersion of separated particles of a textile treating material, said textile treating material being vaporizable at a temperature above room temperature, said dispersed particles having a mass mean diameter of from about 0.3 micron to about 10 microns, and then spinning textile yarns from said fibers, said applied textile treating materials facilitating the spinning and reducing the number of endsdown therein.

11. In a method of forming spun textile yarns from textile fibers, the steps of applying to the textile fibers a diluted gaseous dispersion of separated particles of a textile treating material to be applied to the fibers, said textile treating material being vaporizable at a temperature above room temperature, said dispersed particles having a mean diameter of from about 0.5 micron to about 3 microns, and then spinning textile yarns from said fibers, said applied textile treating materials facilitating the spinning and reducing the number of ends-down therein.

12. In a method of forming spun textile yarns from textile fibers, the steps of applying to a relatively thin, travelling web of the textile fibers a diluted gaseous dispersion of separated particles of a textile treating material to be applied to the fibers, said textile treating material being vaporizable at a temperature above room temperature, said dispersed particles having a mass mean diameter of from about 0.3 micron to about 10 microns, carding said textile fibers, said applied textile treating material modifying the interfiber frictional properties of said textile fibers and facilitating the carding thereof, and then spinning textile yarns from said fibers, said applied textile treating materials facilitating the spinning and reducing the number of ends-down therein.

13. In a method of forming spun textile yarns from textile fibers, the steps of applying to the textile fibers a diluted gaseous dispersion of separated particles of a textile treating material to be applied to the fibers, said textile treating material being vaporizable at a temperature above room temperature, said dispersed particles having a mass mean diameter of from about 0.5 micron to about 3 microns, carding said textile fibers, said ap plied textile treating materials modifying the interfiber frictional properties of said textile fibers and facilitating the carding thereof, and then spinning textile yarns from said fibers, said applied textile treating materials facilitating the spinning and reducing the number of ends-down therein.

14. A method of carding textile fibers as defined in claim 1, wherein the textile treating material is a liquid at room temperature.

15. A method of carding textile fibers as defined in claim 1, wherein the textile treating material is a solid at room temperature.

16. A method of carding textile fibers as defined in claim 2, wherein the textile treating material is a liquid at room temperature.

17. A method of carding textile fibers as defined in claim 2, wherein the textile treating material is a solid at room temperature.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,401,376 Thompson Dec. 27, 1921 1,818,155 Oglesby Aug. 11, 1931 2,416,256 Hochberg Feb. 18, 1947 2,533,167 Kilham Dec. 5, 1950 2,590,659 Skalkeas Mar. 25, 1952 2,628,176 Simon et al Feb. 10, 1953 2,690,426 Jefferson et al. Sept. 28, 1954 2,805,959 Ewing Sept. 10, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 574,575 Great Britain Jan. 11, 1946 

